Cleansing system and device for air filters



June 2, 1931. A. ADAMS, JR., ET AL 7,

CLEANSING SYSTEM AND DEVICE FOR AIR FILTERS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 15, 1929 851 b? abtm June 2, 1931. A. ADAMS, JR., ET AL CLEANSING SYSTEM AND DEVICE FOR AIR FILTERS Filed June 13, 1929 3 Sheets-Shea? 2' oewcozs: i0: ray/400075,.

I170 mzz/Mlfl/u/Mm June 2, 1931.

A. ADAMS, JR., ET AL 1,807,950 CLEANSING SYSTEM AND DEVICE FOR AIR FILTERS Filed June 13. 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Q Q @i ea N N a: a Q

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Patent ed June 2, 1931- a UNITED STATES PArE roFF ca AUSTIN ADAMS, JR, OE BRIGHTWATERS, AND WILLIAM nnrcnnnn-sor LYNBROOK, NEW YORK, ASSIGNORS '10 AMERICAN AIR FILTER COMPANY, .OF LOUISVILLE, '.KENT'UCKY, A. CORPORAIION OF DELAWARE CLEANSING SYSTEM AND DEVICE FOR'AIR FIL'IERS Application filed June 13,

This invention relates to improvements in apparatus and a process for semi-automatically cleaning air filters, particularly of the lar er type, for use in removing dust, dirt an other extraneous matter from air, power driven through tunnels or trunk lines. To effectively collect extraneous matter from air in purifying the same, filters have been devised with vertically positioned spaced plates providing substantially parallel passa es preferably extending the full height 0 the filter, said plates carrying a film or coating of an appropriate oil, which after performing during a determined period of air purifying service, is washed down by and with a falling stream of cleansin oil into a tank, fromwhich both the dirty oifand the cleansing oil are power drawn into a suitable settling reservoir having an exchangeable to dirt receiving canister or receptacle removably suspended from its bottom.

After the settling period, the oil cleared of dirt by the action of gravitation, or sedimentation, is siphoned from the saidsettling SI tank back into the said tank below the said air filter. Arran ed directly over but removed from the top o the air filter is a feed screw or worm connected with suitable power means where- 0 by it may be turned in one direction and auto-' 1 matically reversed by appropriate trip means. A spray nozzle may be mounted on the said feed screw and may have piped connections throu h suitable, valves and power devices 85 with t e said tanks, whereby oil may be raised or pumped to and through the nozzle and s rayed down into the top of the air filter to c eanse the same of dirt as above set forth.

To prevent unpurified air from escaiping 40 through the top and bottom of the air lter and mingling with the purified air beyond, suitable dampers are provided to close the ends of the filter normally, but when the cleansing operation is going on, these dampers must be open to permit the. free passage of the cleansing oil from the spray nozzle entirely thrbugh the filter from top to bottom. These dampers .may be constituted by plates mounted on rock shafts at one side ofthe filter, said shafts may be operated inde- 1929. Serial No. 370,549.

pendently or extended at one end to receive operating arms connected by an adjustable link so that said dampers maybe opened or closed simultaneously by manipulating a suitable handle on the extended end of one of 55 said rock shafts, means being provided, such as a counterweight, for balancing the damp ers in a closed or open position, no positive lock being necessary for that purpose.

'We will now enter into a detailed descrip- 0 tion of the construction and relative arrange ment of the parts embraced in the present and preferred'embodiment of the invention in order to impart a full, clear and exact understanding of the said embodiment. We do not desire, however, to be understood as confining ourselves to the said specific construction and relative arrangement of parts inasmuch as in the future practice of the inven-' tion, various changes in the parts may bemade in' adapting the apparatus to various conditions of use. i

In the drawings forming part of this specification similar reference characters are employed to designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, in which Fig. 1 is a general view of our improved filter cleaning apparatus and indicating the cleansing nozzle in the normal at rest position.

Fig. 2 is a side view of the filter casing broken away to disclose the upper portion of the filter and other parts withm the casing,

and also showing portions of the air conduit or tunnel.

Fig. 3 is an elevaticn of the opposite side of the filter casing and parts of the filter cleansing apparatus.

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional elevation through the top of the filter casing and showing a feedscrew device and means for driving and re versing the same and. a cleaning nozzle mounted thereon, said nozzle being at the extreme outer position and beginning its back- 7 ward movement to the starting point.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4, but with the filter cleaning nozzle back at the normal position or starting point.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail sectional elevation of the filter cleaning nozzle,

edly positioned and extends the entire-width of the casin g, but terminates short of the to and bottom thereof as at 13 and 14;

Arranged continuous with inner top and bottom walls 15 and 16 of the filter case 11, and with the side walls thereof and extending from either side of said case are inlet andoutlet air conduits or tunnels 17 and 18.

The filter 12, may be constructed of angle plates 19, supported in spaced relation to form circuitousor indirect air spaces 21, as shown in Fig. 7 of the drawings. By this angle plate arrangement straight vertical passages extending the full height of the filtcr are provided for the downward passage of a cleansing oil through the filter, delivered by apparatus hereinafter described.

Normally the top and-bottom of the filter should be closed to prevent the escape of air and for thepurpose we supply upper and lower dampers 22 and 23, mounted on rock shafts, 24 and 25, extending through the filter' case and the sides thereof'to receive crank arms 26 and 27 respectively which may be operated independently or, together if connected one to the other by a two part link 28, having a turnbuckle 29 for adjustment. These arms and link elements are outside of the filter casing at the right hand'side thereof in Fig. 1, but may be at the left hand side, if so desired.

The lower rock shaft 25, is extended at the opposite end to receive a handle 30, by which the said dampers maybe opened when the filter is being oil cleaned and closed after the cleaning operation.

To maintain the dampers 22 and 23 in a closed or open position, we attach to the lower crank arm 27, a wire or cable 31, which is passed over pulleys 32, and attached to a counterweight 33 as shown in Fig. 20f the drawings. 4

We will now describe our improved apparatus for delivering cleanin and recharging oil to the filter and for c eaning the oil thus used for re-use over and over again.

At the bottom of the filter case 11, is a tank 34, in which the clean oil for cleaning a dirty filter is placed, and in this cleansing o eration we draw the-oil from the bottom 0 said tank through a pipe 35 by a pump 36, driven by a motor 37, and from said ump the oil is forced through a pipe 38, a couplin 39, a branch pipe 40, supplied with a quic opening valve 41, thence through a preferably flexible tube and pipe connection 42 to a spray nozzle 43, which is formed with a smooth bore 44, to receive a guide rod 45, and with a threaded bore 46, in which a feed screw 47 operates.

When the above filter cleansing operation is taking place, a valve 48 in the pipe 35, and the valve 41 in the branch pipe 40, must be open while a quick opening valve 49, in a pipe 50, connected to the top of a settling reservoir 51, must be closed. A three-way valve may be substituted for the valves 41 and 49 to accomplish the same result, directing the pump discharge either to nozzle 43 or to settling reservoir. 51, as required.

After the filter cleansing operation is completed, the oil, now all back in the tank 34, is full of suspended dirt and must be cleaned for re-use, therefore, we close the valve 41 in the branch pipe 40 and open the valve 49 in the pipe 50 and start motor 37 which again operates the pump 36, to draw the dirty oil from tank 34 upwardly through pipes 35 38, coupling 39, valve 49 and pipe 50 into the settling reservoir-51, where the oil is allowed to remain until all sludge or dirt has settled into a canister or receptacle 52 which is connected to the settling reservoir 51 by an ordinary bayonet or other-quickly detachable joint 53, leakage being prevented by gasket 72.

When the oil iscleared by sedimentation of all sludge or dirt, and is to be used again, a valve 54 in a pipe line 55, is opened and the clean oil is siphoned into the tank 34 ready for use.

To cleanse the filter uniformly from side positegears 57a on parallel shafts 58 with oppositely itched worms 59, engaging worm wheels 60 oose on an extended end of the feed screw 47. The worm wheels have clutch members adapted to be engaged alternately by a clutch sleeve 61, slidahle on' said extended end by ashift lever 62, pivoted at 63 and backed by a spring 64 actin to urge the u per end of the shift lever inwardly into t e position shown in Fig. 4. The clutch sleeve is rotated with the feed screw by a --feather 65 entering a groove therein. The direction of travel of the nozzle 43 on the feed worm 47, is controlled by a trip bar 66, having a shoulder means 67 near its free end, a downward bend 68 and a trip lug 69. When the lever is thrown to. the dotted position of Fig. 4, the bar 66- is drawn over until the shoulder 67 drops behind a keeper 70. where it will lock t e clutch causing the nozzle to move to the left, and when said nozzle reaches the bend 68 of the trip bar, it will raise it and release the said shoulder, permitting the spring 64 to force the clutch sleeve into engagement with the opposite clutch member and the screw will be reversed, thus moving the nozzle to the right until it contacts with the lug 69, causing the clutch sleeve to move into a neutral position when the screw will stop rotating.

The feed fscrew may be provided with a coupling head 71 to engage another head on a companion filter at the side so that two or more filters may be coupled together and operated by one motor.

In Fig. 8 of the drawings a modified form of pipe connections is shown ,for conveying cleaning oil from the pipe to the spraying nozzle 43 which consists of pipes 73 and 7 4 connected one to the other by a swivel open joint 75 through which oil may flow. The ends of said pipes are connected by similar swivel open joints 76 and 77 to the feed pipe 40 and the nozzle 43 respectively.

What we claim is:

1. In combination with an air filter having vertically arranged spaced plates providing air pasages, a tank for storing purified oil, a settling reservoir, a receptacle detachably carried thereby, a spraying nozzle movable over the filter; valved pipe connections between the tank and the nozzle and between the tank and the settling reservoir adapted for alternate service, power means for causing 'oil to flow from said tank through said connections, and means for conveying clarified oil from said reservoir back to said tank.

2. In combination with an air filter having vertically arranged spaced plates providing air passages therethrough, a storage tank for oil under said filter and a nozzle above the same,means for conveying the fluid contents of said tank to and through said nozzle to cleanse the surfaces of said plates, means for removing foreign matter from the fluid thus used, and means for refilling the tank with purified fluid for re-use.

3. An apparatus for cleaning air filters having vertically arranged spaced plates providing air passages from top to bottom, comprising a storage tank for oil, a rotating screw and means for driving and reversing the same, a nozzle mounted to travel on said screw, a settli reservoir, a separable container carried t ereby, pipe connections etween the storage tank, nozzle and settling reservoir and means for forcing the contents of said tank through said connections.

4. An apparatus for clean' having vertically arranged space plates pro-- viding airpassages from top to bottom, comprising a container for oil arranged under the filter, a rotatable screw extending across said filter above the same and in vertical alignment therewith, means for driving and reversing said screw, a nozzle in threaded engagement on' saidscrew, pipe connections between the said container and said nozzle, means for forcing the contents of said condamper between said 1 top air filters tainer upwardly to and through said nozzle and downwardly through the vertically ex-.

tending passages of said filter and means for cleaning the oil thus used for use again.

5. Air filter apparatus comprising a filter element including verticall arranged spaced plates, a tank positioned elow the bottom edges of saidplates a ndzzlepositioned above the top edges of sa1d plates, means for moving sa1d nozzle across said to edges, and a es and said nozzle.

6. Air filter apparatus comprising. a filter element including vertically arranged spaced plates, a tank positioned below the bottom edges of said plates, a damper between an upper edge of said tank and the bottom edges 0 said plates, anozzle positioned above the top edges of said plates, and means for movin said nozzle across said top edges.

Air filter apparatus comprising a filter element including vert-icall arranged spaced plates, a tank positioned elow the bottom edges of said plates, 2. lower damper between an upper edge of said tank and the bottom edges of said plates, a nozzle positioned above the top edges of sa1d plates, means for moving said nozzle across said top edges, an upper damper between said top edges and said nozzle, and means for operatively connecting said-upper and lower dampers whereby they ma be operated simultaneously.

S igned at New York, in the county of Kin s, and State of New-York, this 6th day of une, 1929.

AUSTIN ADAMS JR. WILLIAM L. RIHARns.

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